Ry Herman's Blog, page 19

Favorite Books — April

I’m a few days late this first time around, but I thought it might be nice to start posting about some of my faves out of the books I read each month, whether old or new. This month is weighted a bit heavily towards the new, since I’ve been focusing on recent publications in a bid to do my part to support authors whose releases might have been affected by bookstore closures and other difficulties.

SHOREFALL by Robert Jackson Bennett (Book 2 of the Founders trilogy)

An immensely powerful and deadly entity has been resurrected in the shadows of Tevanne. Sancia and the rest of Foundryside must race to combat this new menace, which means understanding the origins of scriving itself — before Tevanne burns to the ground.

Bennett has created a new genre with this series — maybe call it magical Renaissance cyberpunk — and I am here for it. The second book in the series rockets along, with all the action taking place over the course of a few days, but it still finds time to add nuance to an already rich world and give the characters space to grow.

THE UNSPOKEN NAME by A. K. Larkwood (Book 1 of The Serpent Gates)

On the day of Csorwe’s foretold death, a powerful mage offers her a new fate. Leave with him, and live. Turn away from her destiny and her god to topple an empire, and help him reclaim his seat of power. But Csorwe will soon learn – gods remember, and if you live long enough, all debts come due.

This was a delight. It went in directions I didn’t expect, and at times seemed like it wouldn’t come together in the end, but I’m glad I kept going with it — by the finish all the parts worked to make a seamless whole.

A STITCH IN CRIME by Justin Robinson (Book 4 of the City of Devils series)

Assembled from the corpses of six women, Jane Stitch is haunted by impulses she can’t control and memories that aren’t hers. When she returns to her hometown to solve the mystery of her creation, she finds herself drawn unwillingly into a war between rival gangs of monsters for control over the patch of desert she once called home.

The narrative shift from Nick Moss to Jane Stitch represents not only a change for the series, but a step up to another level for Justin Robinson as a writer. This is, at least in my opinion, the finest book he’s written yet, and I was already a fan. While retaining his trademark humor and inventiveness, he adds layers of depth to this one that really makes it shine.

THE MIDNIGHT LIE by Marie Rutkoski (Book 1 of The Midnight Lie)

Where Nirrim lives, a harsh tribunal rules. You either follow the rules, or pay a horrible tithe. But then she encounters Sid, a rakish traveler from far away who tempts Nirrim to uncover hidden secrets. But to do that, she must place her trust in this sly stranger who asks, above all, not to be trusted.

The Midnight Lie was an exquisitely written book. The prose is beautiful, and the characters compelling. I’m eager to find out what happens next.

OTHER BOOKS

While the ones above were my absolute favorites, other books that I enjoyed and would also recommend included Wakenhyrst by Michelle Paver, Finna by Nino Cipri, Paladin’s Grace by T. Kingfisher, Unorthodox by Deborah Feldman, Redhead by the Side of the Road by Anne Tyler, and Catfishing on Catnet by Naomi Kritzer.

English As She Is Spoke

English is pretty much what happens when German and French get together and have a baby who can’t spell. And then they’re always like, why can’t you be more like your nice cousin Dutch, and English says, you two are never proud of me, I’m the official language of more then 60 sovereign states! And then French says, don’t you brag to me about being a lingua franca, young lady, they named the term lingua franca after me, and English is like, I’m not a lady, for the last time, I’ve dropped grammatical gender, and German says, not in my language family you haven’t, I know you have modern ideas but there are rules. To hell with your rules, English says, what did they ever get me but weak and strong conjugation classes, and French interrupts and says well maybe you’d have a more coherent grammatical system if you weren’t whoring around with every language that flutters its eyelashes at you, don’t think I don’t know what you’ve been doing with Spanish lately. And English says, oh, because you’re such a pure language? That’s rich. And German says, don’t you talk about your parent language that way, but English keeps going, English goes one step too far and says, French wouldn’t even be around if Latin hadn’t taken Gallic and — Whack! German slaps English across the face! French is crying and can’t stop, and English storms off yelling, and German wants to console French but doesn’t know how, they’ve always been just across a border but worlds apart, back in the Old Franconian days they seemed to have so much in common, but French has changed so much, and German can’t speak the language of Romance.

Now On NetGalley

My debut novel, Love Bites, is now up on NetGalley! It’s a feel good queer romance with a surprising paranormal twist.

Reviewers, bloggers, librarians, & other readers of influence, please feel free to use NetGalley to request a complimentary digital copy!

http://netgal.ly/CFA0g7

Drumroll, please . . .

So, I’ve been sitting on this news for a while, and this feels like a weird time to put it out there, but it isn’t like there’s going to be any less weird time in the near future, so . . .

My debut novel, the queer supernatural romcom Love Bites, will be published by Jo Fletcher Books in July!

UK and other European readers can use the link below; US and worldwide readers can preorder using Book Depository.

Since this is my debut novel, I intend to shamelessly encourage everyone I know and don’t know to buy copies and post reviews, because I’d really like this one to do well so that I end up having a career and stuff.

The 7 Plots

Remember there are only 7 story plots:

1) Weird sailor tells you a story
2) Deity has kinky fetish
3) Giant robots, but also FRIENDSHIP
4) Child becomes adult & brings down Empire
5) Who did all this murder? Was it me?
6) 1,000 pages of Feelings
7) Why is our gold under that monster?

Asymptote

Draft 1 of WIP: 74,000 words
Draft 2: 85,000 words
Draft 3: 94,000 words
Draft 4 (currently): 100,000 words

So it’s increasing, but by a continually decreasing amount. I appear to be approaching some kind of mathematical limit. I calculate that it should top out at just over 102,000 words in Draft 5.4.

This Means Something

Someday I will come up with a better system of making chapter revision notes than scrawling “BATH HOUSE” on a piece of scrap paper and hoping that 9:00 AM me understands what 11:20 PM me was trying to get at.

The Valentine’s Day Song

Oh, an epileptic saint was stoned and killed,
And then they brutally cut off his head;
You can touch any of his three reputed heads if you are ill,
And so we have Valentine’s Day.

Oh, in Rome they greased up naked teenage boys,
And the emperor would tell them who to bed,
As they were beaten with whips made from freshly slaughtered goats to everybody’s joy,
And so we have Valentine’s day.

Oh, in France whoever you happened to see first
On that day you would generally have to wed,
Even if they were weird or a horrible mutant or otherwise cursed,
And so we have Valentine’s day.

So when you give a present to your love
Of poetry or flowers that are dead,
Remember exactly what you’re doing and what this is a celebration of,
And why we have Valentine’s day.

Would it help if I went to bed earlier?

I really should not have agreed to perform in the underwater circus show in my recurring dream. I keep being late for rehearsals and they’re getting mad at me.

The Brotherhood

Whenever I use a Brother brand product, I want to address it like it’s a medieval monk. “Good morrow, Brother Sewing Machine. Did you perchance speak with Brother Labeler at Vespers?”